11 Jordan and Dead Sea from QumranNames of the Dead SeaThis body of water has only been known as the “Dead Sea” since the Roman period.In the Bible, the Dead Sea is known most often as the “Salt Sea.” It is sometimes referred to as the “Sea of the Arabah,” denoting the region in which it is located.Apocryphal, Classical, Talmudic, and Arab authors refer to it variously as the “Sea of Sodom,” the “Sea of Lot,” the “Sea of Asphalt,” and the “Stinking Sea.”In Greco-Roman times, the sea was known as the “Pitch Sea” because of the bitumen that was extracted from it.In the Crusader period, it was sometimes called the “Devil’s Sea.”Jordan and Dead Sea from Qumran

12 Dead Sea northern end and Qumran aerial from westMt. NeboDead Sea northern end and Qumran aerial from westPlains of MoabQumranThe Lowest Point on EarthThe Dead Sea is 1,300 feet below sea level. This is the lowest point on earth.Other countries have regions that are below sea level, but none as deep as the Jordan Rift.The lowest point in Asia is 490 feet below sea level.The lowest point in Africa is 435 feet below sea level.The lowest point in North America is 282 feet below sea level (Death Valley, CA).Dead Sea northern end and Qumran aerial from west

13 Dead Sea and area of Qumran from aboveDead Sea and area of Qumran from south

15 Qumran aerial from westMain cemeteryNorthern cemeteryWadi QumranCommunal centerAqueductCave 4Qumran’s Settlement History in Brief8th-7th century B.C. A cistern was found from the time of Uzziah. It may have been one of Uzziah’s towers in the wilderness (2 Chr 26:10). It was a good caravan stopping point. This may also be the City of Salt mentioned in the OT (Josh 15:62; 16:61). Salt was precious for cooking and sacrifices.B.C. Many people moved here during John Hyrcanus’ reign ( B.C.), but the community was destroyed by a fire and earthquake. Josephus wrote that this earthquake was in the spring of 31 B.C. and killed 30,000 people.4 B.C A.D. It was uninhabited during the time of Herod the Great, but was later rebuilt during the time of Archelaus. The Romans destroyed it during the Jewish Revolt.Qumran aerial from west

16 “Scriptorium” at QumranThe Scriptorium (Room 30)On the basis of inkwells and "writing benches" which were found in the second-story room of this building, archaeologists have suggested that this was where scrolls were copied.The benches were wooden desks that were covered with a plaster coating. Some of these were destroyed in fighting during the 1967 war while stored at the Rockefeller Museum.No scrolls were found in this room or in the ruins of the site itself. However, the same type of unique pottery was found both on site and in the caves with the scrolls. This has helped to connect the caves with the site.“Scriptorium” at Qumran

18 Qumran excavations and cemetery from watchtowerThe CemeteryA wall separated the settlement from the cemetery on the east side.Eleven hundred are buried in the main cemetery.The southern cemetery is on the south side of Nahal Qumran. Thirty people were buried here. Other than the women and children found buried on the south finger, nothing else distinguishes the cemeteries.Thirty tombs are in the northern cemetery.Twelve hundred over six generations yields an average congregation of about 200.De Vaux called a section on the other side of a road on the north side of the cemetery a fourth finger, but it is really part of the main cemetery.“A total of 49 graves have been excavated at Qumran--39 by Roland de Vaux, 9 by Solomon Stekoll and 1 by Charles Clermont-Ganneau. The gender of the skeleton Clermont-Ganneau found is unknown. Stekoll's nine graves, excavated in the main cemetery, yielded the remains of six men, two women, a little girl and a baby of indeterminate gender. Twenty-six of the graves de Vaux excavated in the main cemetery contained the remains of men. In the nine graves he excavated in the northern and eastern extensions of the main cemetery were the remains of one male, six females and a child of uncertain gender. The four graves he excavated in the small southern cemetery held the skeletons of a woman and three juveniles whose gender could not be ascertained” (Zissu 1999: 62, n. 8).Steckoll excavated only one grave which contained a man about 65 years of age. The rest are 35 years or younger. Talmon thinks older people were asked to move because of the hard life here. De Vaux says people here just died younger. Eshel says it is not a large enough sample with only 45 excavated graves.Qumran excavations and cemetery from watchtower

23 Qumran Cave 3 Qumran Cave 3 Cave 3Cave 3 is the only cave that has not collapsed. The Copper Scroll was found in this cave.The Copper Scroll was found in 1952 but was not unrolled until The copper was so dry that touching it caused it to break.The Copper Scroll has a list of 63 treasures hidden in the Judean desert and Jerusalem area. The total value of the treasure was appraised at $60 million in 1956.A total of seven groups have searched for the treasure unsuccessfully. Some believe the treasure is fake. Others argue that because the descriptions are so precise the treasure must exist. In a vote of scholars in 1996, most thought that it was real. In a good article in the Israel Museum Journal in 1984, Flusser showed the Essenes were a rich group.The Copper Scroll is now in the Amman Museum.Qumran Cave 3

24 Qumran Cave 4 Qumran Cave 4This cave was among those looted by the Bedouin during the free afternoons on the days they were in the employ of the Qumran archaeologists.Qumran Cave 4

25 Qumran Caves 4a and 4b Qumran Caves 4a and 4bNo fragments were found in 4B (left), but the Bedouin claimed that some of the fragments that were said to be from 4 (right) were actually from 4B.Qumran Caves 4a and 4b

26 Qumran Cave 4 entrance Qumran Cave 4 entranceThe scrolls demonstrated a very accurate transmission of the OT text. These scrolls predate any existing OT texts by roughly 1,000 years and show how carefully scribes treated the text in the copying process.Qumran Cave 4 entrance

28 Qumran Cave 5 with ruins in background looking eastThis eroded cave was discovered by archaeologists; Bedouin found caves 1, 2, 4, 6, and 11. It is one of the in the marl terrace which is close to the site of Qumran, along with caves 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Archaeologists estimate that there were originally caves in the marl terrace. Qumran Cave 5 with ruins in background looking east

29 Qumran Cave 6 with Wadi Qumran in backgroundThis cave was not used for inhabitation, but only for the deposit of scrolls. This is the most accessible of the Dead Sea Scrolls caves to visitors today. (Follow the aqueduct from Qumran to the hills; it is on the left.)Qumran Cave 6 with Wadi Qumran in background

31 Qumran Cave 8 on left and Cave 7 on rightEverything found in Cave 7 was in Greek. The cave collapsed shortly after the scrolls were hidden.Qumran Cave 8 on left and Cave 7 on right

32 Qumran Cave 10 on right; Cave 4b on leftOnly one ostracon (inscribed potsherd) was found in Cave 10.Qumran Cave 10 on right; Cave 4b on left

33 Qumran Cave 11 Qumran Cave 11 Cave 11The cave was blocked in 1952, so de Vaux did not find it. The Bedouin found it in 1956 when they knocked on the rock and heard an echo.Cave 11 is where important and complete scrolls were found, including the book of Psalms.Thirty scrolls were found in Cave 11.It was the last cave found with scrolls.In cave 11, the longest and most intriguing scroll, the Temple Scroll, was discovered.The Temple Scroll was held by the antiquities dealer Kando until When Yadin threatened to put him in jail, Kando agreed to sell it "of his own free will" for $110,000.Helpful Sourcesde Vaux, Roland.1973 Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oxford: Oxford University.Zissu, Boaz.1999 Odd Tomb Out: Has Jerusalem's Essene Cemetery Been Found? Biblical Archaeology Review. 25/2: 50-55, 62.Qumran Cave 11

52 Jerusalem from west panoramaIntroductionThe model represents the city in 66 A.D., prior to its destruction. This was in essence, “Jerusalem at its peak”, before the Jewish Revolt began.The model is the largest of its kind. Work on it began in the early 1960s, and it was used as a means of study when there was no access to the Old City of Jerusalem, which was controlled by Jordan until Mr. Hans Kroch bought this entire hill where his son was killed, and built the hotel and model here.Michael Avi-Yonah, a leading expert of Second Temple period Jerusalem, designed the general plan. His wife, an artist, supplied the details.The model is built exactly to scale, and has the same drainage problems as the city of Jerusalem.The primary sources for the model are the writings of Josephus and archaeological excavations. Other sources include the Talmud and the New Testament.The scale of the model is 1:50. A human would be represented about 1 2/5 inches high.Model from west panorama

53 Central Valley from southThe Central Valley is also known as the Tyropoean Valley (its Greek name), or as it has been inaccurately translated, the Cheesemaker’s Valley. Today the Arabs call it simply el-Wad, the valley.Central Valley from south